"I walked into the bathroom to find my mom dressing a wound on my Grammy’s breast. A wave of worry crashed down on me. “What is going on?” I questioned. They both told me to leave the room. 'Oh I don’t believe that is going to happen,' I proclaimed in a persnickety tone."

"We were the Deacons.  I knew I was a Deacon long before I ever knew I was Dree.  Dad’s side of the family speckled the west coast, and Mom’s side lived somewhere in Georgia, but we never saw them.  There’s some blood that’s not thicker than the Chattanooga River, and, as far as I could tell, it was some pretty bad blood."

"I knew my parents didn’t mean to pressure me. They’re the ones always trying to get me to slow down; I think I’m the only kid ever whose parents tell her to do worse in school. But I grew up steeped in Jewish academic culture, and defective mitochondria don’t erase that."

"So, why am I fat? I am not fat; I’m thick. The curves on my body are like no other, starting from head to toe. My scrumptious body is like a coke bottle; when filled up it bubbles over, robust and pleased."

"I thought I was scared before, but now I really knew what terror felt like. My brain instantly went into overdrive. We were out too far for a man in a motorboat to save us?!"

“'Aren’t they cool? My mom told me that when I wake up one day, they won’t be caterpillars anymore. They will be butterflies,' she remarked. That was the first time Taylor Brunson ever spoke to me. It was the first time anyone at school tried to talk to me."

“Hillary, from my understanding you have what is called Bell’s Palsy.  Half of your face is paralyzed, and unfortunately, at this time, there is no way to know if it will be permanent or not.”

"By the time I was sixteen, I had become an expert fainter. Not an expert as in 'I can induce fainting so that it will get me out of anything!' Rather, I learned to recognize the symptoms and make my exit so that I could quietly pass out in the sanctuary of the high school bathroom."

"I was shocked to discover that in order to play the guitar, you had to learn to play the guitar. This took a greater level of commitment than I had anticipated; my guitar instructor gave me music to practice while at home, a time which I had clearly set aside for playing Xbox, eating, and occasionally completing schoolwork."